The Charles Busch Page

"The main joy of The Third Story is that its foolery embodies something substantive"

2009-02-11T01:00:00.000-08:00

Highlights from Michael Feingold's review in The Village Voice:

"The forest of narrative is dark, and its paths are twisted. At least so things are in the magical world of Charles Busch, whose narrative forest gets deeper and more mysterious as he ventures further along its unexplored byways."

"This is rich food; not surprisingly, palates accustomed to the thin gruel that today's theater too often serves up have grimaced at it."

Read the full review

Interviews with Kathleen Turner, Charles Busch, and Carl Andress about The Third Story, now extended thru March 6, at the Lucille Lortel Theater

2009-02-09T03:05:00.000-08:00

Reviews and Articles about "The Third Story"

2009-02-08T05:30:00.000-08:00

The Village Voice

Hartford Courant: New York Stage: Charles Busch scores again in "The Third Story"

TheatreMania Review

"Down Front again with the Lady in Question" by John Catania and Charles Ignacio, makers of Busch doc The Lady in Question is Charles Busch (article)

The Epoch Times

The Village Voice (interview)

New York Times

Broadway Blog - The Third Story: Spice it up for Mama

Here’s to Leading Ladies - A Night Out With Kathleen Turner and Charles Busch

2009-02-03T06:22:00.000-08:00

click image to enlarge

By ALIX STRAUSS for The New York Times

Published: January 23, 2009

ON a recent January night, Kathleen Turner and Charles Busch were sitting in a private room at Cowgirl, a bar and restaurant in the West Village, where a clamorous cast party was in full swing. She wore a dark wool turtleneck sweater. He sported a gray chenille toque hat — the kind, he said, that “Lillian Hellman would have asked you to hide money in.”

The two, both 54, share starring roles in Mr. Busch’s new play, “The Third Story,” a campy 1940’s-meets-sci-fi comedy that previewed Jan. 14 at the Lucille Lortel Theater (the play formally opens Feb. 2). read more

Kathleen Turner to co-star in "The Third Story"

2008-11-19T00:24:00.000-08:00

Charles Busch's newest play, The Third Story, is coming to Off-Broadway's "hottest destination" - MCC Theater - following its successful world premiere at La Jolla Playhouse.

Kathleen Turner is slated to co-star in this triad of interwoven stories, in which actors portray different characters in each story; often switching from one character and storyline to another in the blink of an eye. Turner will be stepping into the roles originated by the impressive Mary Beth Peil.

Stage and screen veteran Turner, twice-nominated for a Tony Award for Best Actress (for Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof), has been described as "a first-rate, depth-probing stage actress” by the New York Times.

Turner and Busch are joined onstage by Jennifer Van Dyck (Hedda Gabler), Scott Parkinson (The Coast of Utopia), Sarah Rafferty (Gemini) and Jonathan Walker (Twentieth Century). (Van Dyck, Parkinson and Walker appeared in the La Jolla run.) Carl Andress will direct.

This New York premiere will run Jan 14 - Feb 28, 2009 at The Lucille Lortel Theatre, 121 Christopher Street. The official opening is Feb. 2, 2009.

Preview Photos from the 2008 La Jolla Production

2008-09-23T16:29:00.000-07:00

Charles opens up about "The Third Story"

2008-09-09T22:09:00.000-07:00

The Third Story is First Class Entertainment
Charles Busch opens his new show at the La Jolla Playhouse
By Neil Cohen

Inspiration comes to playwrights in strange ways. The play that Charles Busch started writing when commissioned by the La Jolla Playhouse is very different from the show that will have its world premiere Sept. 16.

The Third Story is actually comprised of three overlapping tales woven together into a fast and funny play. The first story is a realistic account of an aging, fading screenwriter in 1949 Hollywood who implores her son to collaborate with her on a new script. The second story is a B-movie take-off about the uneasy alliance between “a mob queen and a frosty lady scientist” that’s sure to please fans of Busch’s Hollywood-inspired comedies. Finally, the third story is a Russian fairy tale in which a painfully shy princess makes a dark pact with a mercurial old witch. The Third Story became the mother and son screenwriters’ quest to bring the B-movie to life, mixed with the fairy tale the woman screenwriter would tell her son. Most of the actors play more than one role, including Busch. In a departure from his usual starring vehicles like Shanghai Moon, which he successfully revived in the Hamptons earlier this summer, Busch confessed that he plays two supporting character roles, including “a wrinkled old crone.”

Settled in at his condo in La Jolla, the award-winning playwright and actor was graciously forthcoming about the show and why you’ll want to watch what you say around him lest it end up on stage.

“It’s a lovely group of actors and the theater’s nice and everything’s going fine,” Busch explained, sounding a little nostalgic for Manhattan’s easy access to everything without the need of a car. I asked him what inspired him to write The Third Story, since it seemed like such a departure for him. “Well, it is and it isn’t a departure — it started off as the same-old, same-old,” he laughed, “but then it turned into ‘Oy vey, oy vey!’ I kept reading about playwrights who had relationships with regional theaters, and I thought, ‘I should have a relationship with a regional theater.’ It’s so difficult — you know, my career has all been just presenting things strictly in New York. You’re sort of under this spotlight, and it’s intimidating to work. You’re second-guessing what ‘they’ — whoever ‘they’ are — what ‘they’ might think. It’s really good for me to work on a play in a more congenial environment.”

The La Jolla Playhouse commissioned Busch to write the play, which he described as “the history of Twentieth Century crime as told through the persona of this “First Lady of Crime,” sort of a mob queen.

“As I started writing it, I decided, ‘I don’t want to write that play!’ For one thing, my work has been getting more personal and complex, and I didn’t want to write just a spoof of gang movies. On the other hand, if I tried to write it more realistically, I don’t think I’m equipped to write an episode of The Sopranos,” he laughed.

“I started thinking of the era in which these gangster movies would have been made, toward the end of Film Noir,” he said. “I thought one story could be about this mob queen, and then another story could be a framework about this woman screenwriter who’s been around since movies began and is somewhat on the downslide. Since it’s all about storytelling, what if I wrote a third story, which was a fairy tale the screenwriter used to tell her son as a child? It sort of developed into stories within stories within stories. The theme that developed was how, among other things, writers use so many elements of their lives consciously and unconsciously, and use their relationships, and sentimentalize their relationships … and cannibalize their relationships and exploit their relationships…” he laughed.

“There are many different tones,” Busch added. “It’s very dramatic at times and hopefully very funny. It’s sort of a roller coaster of tone. Whatever ‘they’ think of it, I must say, I’ve had a fascinating experience writing it. It’s a very challenging play for me.”

I was curious whether Busch felt there were any modern counterparts to all of the great women actresses he salutes in his films. He answered, echoing Norma Desmond, that it’s the films, and especially the tabloid culture that have made stars like Joan Crawford, Bette Davis and the like impossible to recreate. There’s no mystery allowed today’s stars, so he asked, “Who’s to say that George Clooney wouldn’t have been a star in the 30s?” He pointed to Angelina Jolie, Julianne Moore and Cate Blanchett as actresses he feels have star quality.

He’s also looking forward to playing Baba Yaga, the witch in the Freudian fairy tale, which is the kind of character he’s enjoyed doing in staged readings. Interestingly, he noted that he and a lot of his colleagues who play these classic screen divas find themselves facing the same kind of challenges the actresses they emulate experienced later in their careers. Does that mean that you’ll be seeing Lypsinka selling Pepsi Cola, and Busch marrying a studio head like Norma Shearer? Perhaps we’ll find out if he writes the fourth, fifth and sixth story!

The Third Story
Sept. 16-Oct. 19
The La Jolla Playhouse’s Sheila and Hughes Potiker Theatre,
2910 La Jolla Village Drive, La Jolla, Calif., 92037.
Tickets are $29-62.
Information: 858-550-1010, or www.lajollaplayhouse.org

-- from ECHOMAG.com

Cast Announced for Premiere of Charles Busch's "The Third Story " at La Jolla Playhouse

2008-08-19T22:19:00.000-07:00

from Broadwayworld.com, posted Tuesday, August 19, 2008

The cast and creative team have been assembled for the world premiere of the imaginative, hilarious comic drama The Third Story, written by Charles Busch and directed by Carl Andress. Several cast members will perform more than one role, highlighting the play's central theme of dual identity. The Third Story plays September 16 through October 19, 2008 in the Sheila and Hughes Potiker Theatre at La Jolla Playhouse.

The Third Story is an uplifting and very funny play that is composed of three interconnected stories: a realistic tale of a mother and son screenwriting team in the 1940's, a B-movie about the uneasy alliance between a mob queen and a frosty lady scientist and a Russian fairy tale in which a painfully shy Princess makes a dark pact with a mercurial old witch.

The cast features: Charles Busch (Baba Yaga/Queenie Bartlett) who recently starred in his own screenplay of Die, Mommie, Die! and is the author of such critically acclaimed plays as The Tale of the Allergist's Wife; Mary Beth Peil (Peg/Dr. Rutenspitz) a Tony-nominated actress most recently seen on Broadway in Sunday in the Park with George, whose credits include Film: Stepford Wives and TV: Grams in Dawson's Creek; Jonathan Walker (Drew/Steve) whose credits include Film: Michael Clayton and Broadway: Twentieth Century and After the Fall; Jennifer Van Dyck (Constance Hudson) whose recent credits include Film: Across the Universe, TV: New Amsterdam, Broadway: Hedda Gabler; Scott Parkinson (Zygote) who performed on Broadway in The Coast of Utopia; and Rebecca Levy (Vasalisa/Verna/Miss Tinsley) a third-year MFA student at UC San Diego who has also performed in Lulu at Harvard University and Peter Pan at Berkshire Theatre Festival.

"I have great confidence in our cast members and creatives," says Busch. "Carl and I are in a wonderful place in our long collaboration where we think as one and yet also challenge each other." Busch continues, "I am thrilled that we have such a crackerjack team of skilled and highly imaginative designers. The three stories are told in three very different theatrical styles and are interconnected in a cinematic fashion."

Directed by Carl Andress (Die, Mommie, Die!, A Wonderful Life), with original music composed by Lewis Flinn (Die, Mommie, Die!, The Little Dog Laughed), The Third Story features: Scenic Design by David Gallo (A Catered Affair, Xanadu, Radio Golf), Costume Design by Gregory Gale (Cyrano de Bergerac; The Wedding Singer); Lighting Design by Christopher Akerland (Talk Radio); Sound Design by Walter Trarbach (The Farnsworth Invention), Hair and Wig Design by Tom Watson (Into the Woods, Lestat), and Dramaturgy by Shirley Fishman. Stage Manager is Lisa Porter, Associate Producer is Dana I. Harrel, and Production Manager is Peter J. Davis.

The Third Story was commissioned by the La Jolla Playhouse and is inspired by Busch's life-long interest in film history.

"The themes in the play are: mothers having to release their children out into the world, no matter how painful that may be." Busch says, "Then the larger theme is how writers use everything in their lives for their creative work, consciously and unconsciously, past and present, honoring, sentimentalizing and cannibalizing their relationships."

Preview performances begin September 16th. The Third Story officially opens Sunday, September 21st and closes October 19th. La Jolla Playhouse performances of The Third Story are sponsored by COOLEY GODWARD KRONISH.

Performance times are Tuesday and Wednesday, 7:30pm; Thursday through Saturday, 8:00pm; and Sundays 7:00pm. Matinees are held on Saturdays and Sundays at 2:00pm. Single ticket prices range from $29 to $62. To purchase: call (858) 550-1010 or go online to www.lajollaplayhouse.org.

The nationally acclaimed, Tony Award-winning La Jolla Playhouse is known for its tradition of creating the most exciting and adventurous new work in regional theatre. Led by Artistic Director Christopher Ashley and Managing Director Steven B. Libman, the Playhouse was founded in 1947 by Gregory Peck, Dorothy McGuire and Mel Ferrer, and is now considered one of the most well respected not-for-profit theatres in Southern California. During the tenure of Director Emeritus Des McAnuff, numerous Playhouse productions have moved to Broadway, including The Farnsworth Invention, Big River, The Who's Tommy, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, A Walk in the Woods, Dracula, Billy Crystal's 700 Sundays, the Pulitzer Prize-winning I Am My Own Wife, and the currently-running Jersey Boys.

"The Third Story" - plot synopsis

2008-08-11T01:49:00.000-07:00

Written by and Starring Charles Busch
Directed by Carl Andress

Omaha, 1949...Peg, a brazen screenwriter of Hollywood's Golden Age, has been a stowaway on a Chinese junk, escaped a cannibal village and had her ankle kissed by a young Tyrone Power — but now that the boys have taken over Hollywood, she's out of work. Ever optimistic, Peg approaches her son to collaborate on a new script to resurrect her faded career. Although Drew has fled Tinseltown for the quiet life of a Midwestern mail carrier, he reluctantly joins his mother to draft a crazy adventure through time, the uncertainties of science and the bonds of love.

Their flights of imagination bring together an elegant and hardscrabble Queen of the Mob, a chilly scientist harboring a seething passion and a romantic fairytale set in a Russian forest. Add to that a botched science experiment named Zygote with seven nipples and a chemical dependency, and a tough guy with a serious case of claustrophobia, and you have The Third Story.

Uplifting, imaginative and endlessly funny, The Third Story delights in the stories we tell to make sense of our lives.

Gracing the stage as three of the female characters in The Third Story, Mr. Busch is sure to delight and inspire audiences.

-- from lajollaplayhouse.org

Charles interviewed on "The Strange Dave Show" podcast

2008-07-23T00:53:00.000-07:00

Okay, The Strange Dave Show is indeed strange, but if you can tolerate all the gratuitous sound effects, you get to hear Charles talk about everyone from Lauren Ambrose to Valerie Harper to Boy George and Paul McCartney (who complimented Charles on his great legs).

If you don't know all there is to know about Charles Busch, and you don't like to read, this is a good way to find out more about the award-winning actor, Tony-nominated playwright, all-around cult figure and "absolute sweetheart" (as described by just about everyone who's met him).

Buy Charles Busch DVDs, screenplays, plays, or novel

2008-07-14T03:35:00.000-07:00

Die Mommie Die! is listed as the top camp film by TLA Video

Read the latest interview with Charles Busch

2008-06-19T23:42:00.000-07:00

Charles talks about his current production of Shanghai Moon, the old and sometimes obscure films he pays homage to in his plays, socializing with old movie actresses - including a very famous leading lady - and just how long it takes him to get into makeup.

From newsday.com:

Fast Chat: Charles Busch
by Daniel Bubbeo

June 22, 2008

photo: Alex Remnick for East Hampton Star

Shanghai Moon now thru June 29 at Bay Street Theatre in Sag Harbor

2008-06-02T23:41:00.000-07:00

"a comedy with a bit of complexity" -- The East Hampton Star*

Thom Sesma, Charles Busch, Gordana Rashovich and Jodi Lin in Shanghai Moon (© Lia Chang)

Following the success of last summer's hit revival, The Lady in Question, Charles returns to Sag Harbor with a new production of his 1999 play, Shanghai Moon, co-starring his longtime pal, actress and comedienne Julie Halston. It is directed by Carl Andress, who helmed two previous stagings of Shanghai Moon, as well as the Off-Broadway production of Die Mommie Die!

Shanghai Moon is both an homage to and parody of films like The Cheat (1931) with Tallulah Bankhead, Shanghai Express (1932) with Marlene Dietrich, and The Letter (1940) with Bette Davis.

The heroine is Lady Sylvia Allington (played by Busch), a former Chicago showgirl married to an aged British diplomat. She travels with him to Shanghai where she begins a clandestine love affair with the mysterious General Gong Fei, becomes hooked on opium, is arrested for murder, and, like all Busch heroines, reveals her inner strength and resolve as her life falls melodramatically apart.

For more information and tickets, see http://www.baystreet.org/0704/show.asp?id=276

*See the review in the East Hampton Star

"Die Mommie Die!" designers win Outstanding Costume Design Award!

2008-05-05T22:33:00.000-07:00

On May 5th, The League of Off-Broadway Theaters and Producers presented Ronald Case, Michael Bottari, and Jessica Jahn with the 2007-8 Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Costume Design for last fall's production of Die Mommie Die! Congratulations Michael, Ron, and Jessica!

The three have been nominated for two other Outstanding Costume Design awards for their Die Mommie Die! creations: the Outer Critics Circle award and The Drama Desk award. Winners of the 2007-2008 Outer Critics Circle Awards will be announced on May 12. The 53rd Annual Drama Desk Awards ceremony will take place on May 18.

For more on the costumes of Die Mommie Die!, see the Sept. 2007 post "The Clothes (and Wigs) Make the Woman."

Michael Bottari & Ronald Case are longtime Busch collaborators.

Bottari and Case with the Broadway Bear likeness of Die Mommie Die's Angela Arden, which raised $1400 for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.

Charles brings "Shanghai Moon" to Sag Harbor this June

2008-05-01T19:30:00.000-07:00

Following up last summer's successful run of "The Lady In Question" at Bay Street Theatre, Charles will return this year with a revival of another of his hit plays.

Shanghai Moon follows the American-born wife of an aged British diplomat who travels to Shanghai with her husband. She begins a fatal love affair with the mysterious General Gong Fei. It's based on such movie and stage melodramas as "The Bitter Tea of General Yen," "The Letter," The Green Hat, "The Cheat" and "Shanghai Express." It premiered Off-Broadway in 1999 at Theater for the New City. A 2003 production featured actor B.D. Wong.

Charles star as Lady Sylvia Allington. He will be joined onstage by friend and longtime collaborator, actress/comedienne Julie Halston. Carl Andress, who directed the 1999 and 2003 productions, and most recently, the Off-Broadway production of Die Mommie Die! will direct this production as well.

The revival will be presented at Bay Street Theatre from Tuesday, June 3, 2008 - Sunday, June 29, 2008.

See "The Lady in Question" wins raves for a glimpse at last year's production, including photos and a list of celebrities who came to see it.

Charles nominated for Drama League's 2008 Distinguished Performance Award

2008-04-23T00:01:00.000-07:00

The Drama League recently announced the nominees for the 74th Annual Drama League Awards. Charles Busch is on the list for the Distinguished Performance Award for his outstanding performance in 2007's Off-Broadway production of Die Mommie Die!

He's in very good company. For the complete list of nominees, click here.

The Drama League will bestow awards for Distinguished Performance, Distinguished Production of a Play, Distinguished Production of a Musical, Distinguished Revival of a Play, and Distinguished Revival of a Musical at a luncheon on Friday, May 16 at the Marriott Marquis Hotel, to be hosted by Harvey Fierstein.

"The Tale of the Allergist's Wife" now available on audio CD

2008-04-07T22:11:00.000-07:00

Charles directed five performances of his Tony-nominated social satire, The Tale of the Allergist's Wife, for L.A. Theatre Works nationally-syndicated weekly radio theater series, The Play's The Thing last May. It is now available on a 2-disc set.

Publisher's Weekly review:

"Busch's 2000 play transfers perfectly from the stage to audio, largely because the small casts is so larger than life (bordering on caricatures) that the characters don't need to be seen to be understood. As the title character, Amy Aquino's slightly nasal, tortured voice embodies this Jewish housewife's angst, and Richard Kind does an excellent job of conveying her husband's artless but endearing self-importance with his carefully chosen words and deliberately sonorous tone. Seinfeld's Estelle Harris, as Aquino's mother, steals many scenes with her screeching voice and rants about bowel movements. The appreciative audience clapping and laughing enhances the comedy. On the final track, a surprisingly mild-mannered Busch discusses the real-life model for the allergist and how the wife developed from a character he created when he was starting out as an actor." (Jan.)

Charles with original Broadway cast members (clockwise) Linda Lavin, Anil Kumar, Tony Roberts, Michele Lee and Shirl Bernheim

New book of Charles Busch screenplays

2008-01-31T20:50:00.000-08:00

Die, Mommie, Die! and Psycho Beach Party: the screenplays of Charles Busch

Two eminently readable and highly entertaining screenplays, with a marvelous bonus. Charles provides commentary on the making of these two films and discusses what it’s like to be both behind the camera and to star as a leading lady.

Click here for a capsule review (scroll to bottom of page)

Charles' first collection of plays is also available:

The Tale of the Allergist's Wife and Other Plays

Contains The Tale of the Allergist's Wife, Vampire Lesbians of Sodom, Psycho Beach party, The Lady in Question, Red Scare on Sunset.

While we're on the subject of books, if you haven't read Charles Busch's novel, Whores of Lost Atlantis, you are missing out. Chock full of quirky characters, surprising plot twists, hysterical circumstances, side-splitting zingers, and yes - sex, Armistead Maupin reportedly enjoys it annually.

"A Very Serious Person" - now on DVD

2007-12-15T23:30:00.000-08:00

This 2006 film marks Charles' directorial debut.
Written by Charles Busch and Carl Andress.
With Polly Bergen, Charles Busch, P.J. Verhoest, Dana Ivy, Julie Halston, and Carl Andress.

plot summary:

Jan, an itinerant male nurse from Denmark, takes a new job with Mrs. A, a terminally ill Manhattan woman raising her parentless thirteen-year-old grandson, Gil. Spending the summer by the shore, the emotionally reserved Jan finds himself oddly cast as a mentor to Gil in having to prepare the sensitive boy for life with his cousins in Florida after his grandmother's death. A deep friendship grows between these two solitary people. By the end of the summer, Gil has developed a new maturity and independence, while the enigmatic Jan has revealed his own vulnerability. (Written by Charles Busch)

To read the Variety review, click here.

View the trailer at the bottom of this page.

Two bonus clips:

Click here to purchase.

Angela Lansbury visits Die Mommie Die!

2007-11-21T13:17:00.000-08:00

Award-winning legend of stage and screen, Angela Lansbury, took in Die Mommie Die! in November. After the show, she spent some time visiting with Charles and the rest of the cast.

See more photos and read the write-up at Broadway.com

Liz Smith raves about Charles in her Variety column

2007-11-18T11:32:00.000-08:00

"THERE ARE very few genuine glamorous dynamite '40s/'50s-style ladies left to us these days. But the playwright and actor Charles Busch is one. His "Die Mommie Die!" at New World Stages is a massive tribute to Joan Crawford and Bette Davis and every other actress who ever paused dramatically on the stairs and gave the audience a piercing look. This play includes everything but the kitchen sink; it's lots of fun and the cast enthusiastic. ... When I went backstage, I asked, "Charles, are you going to go straight again and write another comedy for Broadway?" (The story Charles wrote about his own family in "The Allergist's Wife" ran almost two years.) Charles just laughed and then complained about the undergarment he was wearing, a slip that didn't come up to snuff."

Posted: Wed., Nov. 14 on Variety.com

A New Life for Die Mommie Die! by Charles Busch

2007-11-18T09:46:00.000-08:00

Charles is featured on Broadway Buzz's First Person Feature. Here's an excerpt:

"Playing the role of Angela Arden on stage is vastly different from playing it on film. Both experiences are fascinating to me. Die Mommie Die is an homage to a genre of suspense films in the 1960s that has been dubbed "Grand Dame Guignol." These were films such as Whatever Happened To Baby Jane; Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte; Straitjacket; Die, Die My Darling; and The Big Cube, in which great stars such as Bette Davis, Joan Crawford, Tallulah Bankhead and Lana Turner kept their long careers going by giving tour-de-force performances in increasingly tawdry thrillers. I've been doing film parodies on stage for many years, but what a fantastic challenge it was to actually do this on film. I could recreate the acting styles of these women in their own medium and not have to project to the last seat in the theater."

Read the entire first-person piece at Broadway.com, posted Nov. 13.

Videotaped interview with DMD cast and director

2007-11-13T03:22:00.000-08:00

The entire cast of DIE MOMMIE DIE!, as well as director Carl Andress, are interviewed for Broadway Beat, the popular weekly television program for and about the theatre world, on Broadwayworld.com by host Richard Ridge.

Click this link to watch the video:

http://www.broadwayworld.com/videoplay.cfm?colid=22756

Interview with Charles Busch for Broadwayworld.com

2007-11-13T03:02:00.000-08:00

Interview by TJ Fitzgerald, posted Nov. 10

TJ: Charles, it was so nice to meet you after the show. Who did you base the character of Angela on?

BUSCH: The character of Angela Arden is a composite of the sort of role Bette Davis or Joan Crawford or Susan Hayward would have played late in their careers in a suspense thriller in the 1960s'. I try to evoke these actresses without actually doing an impersonation. It's sort of an intellectual appreciation of their acting style.

TJ: Obviously, this show is something very near and dear to you. When did you write the show and how did you come up with the idea?

BUSCH: I wrote the play in 1999. I was going to be in LA filming Psycho Beach Party and I knew I'd only be shooting around ten days so it seemed safe to do a play at the same time. I had trouble coming up with an idea and then thought maybe I should base it on a classical work of literature. The ancient Greek myth of Clytemnestra came to mind and I thought it would be fun to do it the style of a 1960's suspense film.

TJ: It seems so effortless to you to create this person on stage. Do you have a special routine to prepare for each performance?

BUSCH: My only routine is that I go through all my lines every day before I get to the theatre, and then around a half hour before the show I go onstage and go through any section that I'm afraid I'll screw up. I'm always afraid of forgetting lines or stuttering on them.

TJ: When was the first time that you performed this character on stage and how was the audience reaction to the show?

BUSCH: I've been playing variations of my Angela Arden character since 1984. In all my plays, I tend to play an elegant lady who pulled herself up from a tough past. Not only am I influenced by watching a lot of old movies when I was growing up, but I was also raised my Aunt in New York City, who was an elegant lady who came from humble origins. I think my performances are very influenced by her personal style.

TJ: How would you describe this show to let audiences know what they are going to see?

BUSCH: Die Mommie Die! is a parody of 1960's thriller movies that might have starred Bette Davis or Joan Crawford, but I hope that while you're laughing, you might also find parts of it touching as well as genuinely suspenseful.

TJ: Any plans to take the show on the road after its NY run?

BUSCH: There is a possibility we might take the play to San Francisco, but I'm taking one day at a time.

TJ: So, how long have you been doing the drag roles? I know you did a great movie, one of my favorites, Psycho Beach Party.

BUSCH: I've been writing myself female roles since I was in college at Northwestern University in the 1970's. For a number of years, I was a solo performer and played male and female roles but I always thought I was better in the female roles and when I started my theatre company, Theatre-in-Limbo in 1984 in the East Village, it was nice having other actors to play those male roles and I could focus on being a leading lady.

In the original play Psycho Beach Party, I played the young girl, Chicklet. When we made the movie in 2000, the producers and I both felt we should have a real young girl play that role and we were fortunate to find Lauren Ambrose. They wanted me in the film, so I wrote myself a new character, that of the police detective, Monica Stark.

TJ: I was also watching an episode of "OZ" recently. I could have sworn I saw you...

BUSCH: Yep, that was me. I played Nat Ginsburg on "OZ" for two seasons. My character was very ill from AIDS and also was on death row so I had a feeling I wouldn't be around for a third season. I was a big fan of that show and was thrilled when they asked me to be on it.

TJ: Any projects that you are working on now, aside from Die Mommie Die? Upcoming roles or new plays you are working on?

BUSCH: I have a new play called The Third Story which will premiere at the LaJolla Playhouse next year and I'll also be returning to Bay Street Theatre in Sag Harbor next summer to do one of my plays, not sure which. I love that theatre and my favorite kind of vacation is to perform a show in a beautiful resort town like Sag Harbor.

TJ: Now your show, The Tale of the Allergist's Wife was nominated for a Tony award. What was that like for you when you heard the news?

BUSCH: I was so thrilled by the commercial and critical success of The Tale of the Allergist's Wife. A very exciting day was when the marquee went up at the Barrymore Theatre. It was pouring rain and I looked at it from every angle of the street. It was wonderful to be nominated for Best Play and I was lucky that year that they had scenes from each of the nominated plays on stage and the playwrights got to introduce the segments. So I actually got to be on stage at Radio City Music Hall. I knew I didn't have a chance to win but during those last five seconds, you do hope for a miracle.

TJ: OK, I know a lot of people look up to you and admire your performances. What type of advice would you give to someone who wanted to follow in your footsteps?

BUSCH: My advice is not to listen to too much advice, like "be sensible. That won't get you anywhere." I had to perform and I knew I was an odd type but it never occurred to me that things wouldn't ultimately work out. My big goal was to earn a living in the theatre and I'm very proud that I achieved that goal.

TJ: Alright, now our readers like to know a little bit more about the actor offstage, so here's some questions about some of your favorite things. How about telling us what is you Favorite Guilty Pleasure?

BUSCH: I'm addicted to reality TV. I've never missed a single episode of any season of "Survivor." I take it very seriously.

TJ: Who is your Favorite Female Vocalist?

BUSCH: Judy Garland. But among living singers, Marilyn Maye. Whenever she's playing at the Metropolitan Room, everyone should go see her.

TJ: And your Favorite Restaurant in NY?

BUSCH: Angus McIndoe on West 44th Street. The owner, Angus, is one of the most charming fellas in the world and the food is also terrific.

TJ: Do you have a Favorite Phrase?

BUSCH: I don't think I have one. I can be surprisingly inarticulate. I think I may perform my own work so I can have time to come up with and rehearse clever things to say.

TJ: And finally, if you weren't an actor/playwright, what would your profession be?

BUSCH: I would like to have a farm and make artisinal cheeses. I think that would be a wonderful life and maybe I'll someday do it.

http://www.broadwayworld.com/viewcolumn.cfm?colid=22859

DIE MOMMIE DIE! Reviews

2007-10-22T23:01:00.000-07:00

"Charles Busch is radiant in his play, "Die Mommie Die!" -- Variety

From The New York Times:

"Directed by Carl Andress, “Die Mommie Die!,” which runs a peppy 90 minutes, is infused with the good-natured comic brio that has made Mr. Busch a drag artist whom middle America can embrace. Even theatergoers who don’t catch the copious old-movie quotations, verbal and physical, should enjoy Mr. Busch’s hair-trigger comic timing and rubbery mugging, which brings to mind vintage Lucille Ball. "

"[Mr. Busch has] an encyclopedic knowledge of, and bone-deep affinity for, the late-career films of Lana Turner, Joan Crawford, Bette Davis and Susan Hayward, as well as a host of B-picture actresses who rarely surface on Netflix. As Angela, Mr. Busch — who also wrote and starred in the 2003 film version of “Die Mommie Die!” — doesn’t specifically imitate any of those screen sirens. Yet he manages to embody them all."

From Variety:

"Thanks to Busch's script and exceptional leading perf, the surfaces of this comedy-thriller -- about the murderous meltdown of the pre-Nixon Hollywood family -- roll back to reveal provocative statements about the power women can lose when a man walks into the room."

"His rich physical and vocal palette prove that Angela is a woman of good breeding who could snap at any second. "

From The Epoch Times:

"Busch has written a delightful story, sending up Hollywood of old and turning several genres on their head in the process.... The cast is excellent ... and each member of the company gets more than one chance to shine (and steal scenes)."

At New World Stages (340 W. 50th St.)
Tuesday - Friday at 8pm; Saturday at 7pm & 10pm; Sunday at 3pm & 7pm.
Tickets: (212) 239-6200 or telecharge.com

starring Charles Busch as fallen diva Angela Arden
Bob Ari (The Constant Wife) as Sol Sussman, the tyrannical husband
Chris Hoch (Spamalot) as Tony Parker, the lover
Ashley Morris as Edith, daddy's little girl
Kristine Nielsen (Our Leading Lady) as Bootsie Carp, the Bible-spouting live-in domestic
Van Hansis (As the World Turns) as Lance, the emotionally disturbed gay son

Directed by Carl Andress

Visit the official Die Mommie Die! site for more info and tickets

DIE MOMMIE DIE!'s Opening Night

2007-10-22T00:00:00.000-07:00

See opening night photos at Broadwayworld.com and at Broadway.com

Die Mommie Die!'s opening on Sunday, October 21, was very well received by an audience including Joan Rivers, Michele Lee, Xanadu adapter Douglas Carter Beane, playwright/performer Anna Deveare Smith (Twilight, Fires in the Mirror), Marian Seldes, Kate Mulgrew, David Pittu, Tony-winning Jim Dale, Edward Hibbert and Karen Ziemba (Curtains), Julie Halston, Tyler Hanes, (A Chorus Line) and "As The World Turns" cast members Jake Silberman, Elana Goode, Alexandra Chando and Marnie Schulenberg.

DIE MOMMIE DIE! Preview Photos

2007-10-11T22:54:00.000-07:00

Bob Ari and Ashley Morris

Van Hansis, Charles Busch, Chris Hoch, Bob Ari and Kristine Nielsen

Van Hansis, Charles Busch and Ashley Morris

Van Hansis and Charles Busch

Kristine Nielsen and Charles Busch

Van Hansis and Charles Busch

Chris Hoch and Charles Busch

Charles Busch and Bob Ari

Ashley Morris and Van Hansis

Ashley Morris on acting with Charles

2007-10-10T03:36:00.000-07:00

Charles is "pretty crazy over" both of the actors portraying his children. But are the feelings mutual?

Ashley Morris, who portrays daughter Edith, was interviewed by Broadway.com for their "Fresh Face" feature published on 10/18. Here's what she had to say:

the audition

"They asked me to go outside of the room and prepare a side, and then when I came back in, Charles was on the stage to do the scene! I went to the park across the street afterward and kinda cried a little bit, because he's a comic genius. It was an honor just to audition with him."

rehearsals

"I just tried to watch Charles, because I think that's what theater is—you don't learn it from a book, you learn it from observing. He was so generous, helping me with timing and letting me ask him lots of questions."

the play

"It's thrilling to be onstage when Charles comes out," she says. "Every single night, the audience cheers and claps. It's lovely, because all of us—the actors and the audience—are together in this one night that can never be re-done. That's the magic of theater."

"The Clothes (and Wigs) Make the Woman."

2007-09-02T03:55:00.000-07:00

"Gliding around in smart 1960s pantsuits and immaculate wigs, Charles Busch is radiant in his play, "Die Mommie Die!"" -- Variety

" [Charles] alone is costumed by Michael Bottari and Ronald Case, who understand the menace of big floral print. The wigs, by Katherine Carr*, are such characters that they should have names." -- Newsday

"... a series of pitch-perfect hostess outfits (designed by Michael Bottari and Ronald Case)" -- New York Times

Charles with his longtime costume designers and collaborators, Ronald Case (left) and Michael Bottari.

Photo: Linda Lenzi

"We are thrilled to be designing Charles' costumes once again for the Off Broadway version of Die Mommie Die on stage, in N.Y.C. where it belongs! Charles has been a loyal and loving collaborator to us for over 13 years, starting with him playing Belle Poitrine in the Little Me in Birmingham all the way to the Hollywood film. We have some new costumes planned for Charles, so his fans will get a few surprises, but most are from the film which we keep in a special wing of our warehouse! Hope to see you all there."

-- Michael Bottari & Ron Case

Above Photos by Lars Klove

*wig designer is Katherine Carr

Play, Movie, Play: about "Die, Mommie, Die!"

2007-08-27T12:48:00.000-07:00

Charles originally wrote Die, Mommie, Die! as a play.

“Die, Mommy, Die!”, as it was then spelled, was produced in July, 1999 at the Coast Playhouse in Los Angeles.

Charles later adapted it for the big screen, and Die, Mommie, Die! became his most beloved and critically acclaimed film to date. The film was nominated for six awards and won four, including the Sundance Special Jury Prize for Outstanding Performance (Charles Busch).

Produced in 2003, the film is set in 1967, with flashbacks to the 1950's. Worth watching for the wardrobe alone (40 costumes designed by long-time Busch collaborators Michael Bottari and Ron Case), the film stars Busch as Angela Arden, a famous former songbird with a closet full of secrets. Jason Priestley is delightfully smarmy as her young lover, Tony Parker, an unemployed actor as well-known for possessing a certain physical attribute that's in high demand as for his willingness to share it. Philip Baker Hall commands as Angela's authoritative husband, film producer Sol Sussman. Natasha Lyonne plays manipulative daddy's girl and mother-loathing Edith with equal parts evil and vulnerability, and Stark Sands is extremely endearing as the emotionally disturbed gay son, Lance. The chameleon-like Frances Conroy submerges herself into the role of the strangely mysterious, bible-quoting housekeeper, and Nora Dunn is perfectly hilarious in a brief turn as a conniving columnist.

Charles is at his best, flawlessly reincarnating the performances of dozens of Old Hollywood Actresses - yes, with a capital "A" - and weaving them seamlessly into his own, with his trademark style, skill, and accurate intuitiveness. His performance is veracious and perfectly toned.

A hilarious comedy noir (or noir comedy), genuflecting to the glamour of 1960s Hollywood, with a plot that is equal parts Greek tragedy and Hollywood kitsch, you're sure to love Die, Mommie Die - the play.

"The Lady in Question" wins raves!

2007-08-25T16:55:00.000-07:00

Read the NY Times review:

"What Genius Cast This Play?" by NAOMI SIEGEL

"A free wheeling satire of patriotic 1940’s thrillers such as “Notorious” and “Escape”, “The Lady in Question” tells the suspenseful tale of Gertrude Garnet, the most glamorous concert pianist on the international stage. On tour in 1940 Bavaria, her colossal self-absorption is challenged when a handsome American professor engages her aid in rescuing his mother from a Nazi prison." (from charlesbusch.com)

Charles recently reprised his role as Gertrude Garnet in a revival of his 1989 play at the Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor, NY. Directed by Christopher Ashley, the cast included Julie Halston, recreating her original off-Broadway role, Candy Buckley, Richard Kind, Matt McGrath, Barrett Foa, Perry Ojeda, Larry Keith and Ana Reeder.

Paul McCartney with Charles

Charles with two Julies: Andrews and Halston

Celebrities including Alan Alda, Julie Andrews, Alec Baldwin, Matthew Broderick, Kate Burton, Angela LaGreca, Pia Lindstrom, Paul McCartney, John McDaniel, Lorne Michaels, Cynthia Nixon, Sarah Jessica Parker, Marc Shaiman and Renée Zellweger have attended performances.

Read the BroadwayStars interview with Charles and other cast members by Michael Portantiere.

"A Very Serious Person" now on DVD!

2007-08-24T22:23:00.000-07:00

Charles' first self-directed feature, A Very Serious Person, premiered at the 2006 Tribeca Film Festival, where it won an honorable mention. It has also been seen at San Francisco and Philadelphia Gay and Lesbian Film Festivals. At the 2006 Philadelphia Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, Charles received the Artistic Achievement Award.

Written by Charles Busch and Carl Andress
starring Charles Busch
featuring Polly Bergen, Dana Ivey, Julie Halston, Carl Andress, and introducing PJ Verhoest

Press Release Synopsis:
Jan (Charles Busch), a traveling male nurse from Denmark, takes a new job with Mrs. A (Polly Bergen), a terminally ill Manhattan woman raising her parentless thirteen-year-old grandson, Gil (PJ Verhoest). Spending the summer by the shore with Mrs. A, Gil, and their housekeeper Betty (Dana Ivey), the emotionally reserved Jan finds himself oddly cast as a mentor to Gil in having to prepare the sensitive boy for life with his cousins in Florida after his grandmother’s death. A deep camaraderie grows between these two solitary people, and through the pair’s friendship with two local hairdressers, Lee and Glenda (Carl Andress and Julie Halston), Gil starts his journey to self-discovery. By the end of the summer, Gil has developed a new maturity and independence, while the enigmatic Jan has revealed his own vulnerability.

To purchase the DVD, click on the picture.

Die Mommie, Die! Trailer

2007-07-12T05:40:00.001-07:00

If you've been living under a rock since the early 2000's, you may have missed Charles Busch's most popular film to date. Here's a preview for those who've missed it, and for those who can't get enough of it! Written by and starring Charles Busch, based on his stage play. With Jason Priestley, Natasha Lyonne, Frances Conroy, Philip Baker Hall, Stark Sands, and Nora Dunn. [editorial comment: The film is better than these clips might indicate... I would have chosen differently, had I edited the trailer.]

Stark Sands and Jason Priestley in a clip from Die Mommie, Die!

2007-07-12T05:35:00.001-07:00

The audio and video quality of this reproduction is rather poor, and taken out of context, this scene may seem rather long, particularly as it's difficult to hear in places. However, this is a fabulously fun and sexy scene, and, for those who haven't seen it, will give you an idea of the kind of humor that permeates the film.

Charles directs his Tony-nominated hit, The Tale of the Allergist's Wife for a nationally-syndicated radio program

2007-07-06T06:43:00.000-07:00

L.A. Theatre Works recorded five performances of Busch's deliciously devious social satire, The Tale of the Allergist's Wife, to air on LATW's nationally-syndicated weekly radio theater series, The Play's The Thing. The playwright directed JoBeth Williams and Richard Kind in five performances, May 16 through 20.

Charles with original Broadway cast members (clockwise) Linda Lavin, Anil Kumar, Tony Roberts, Michele Lee and Shirl Bernheim

Charles said of this experience:

"A very interesting challenge directing The Allergist's Wife for the radio. Each of the five performances had a live audience of about three hundred people and the natural tendency for everyone involved is to deliver the performance for them. However, the real purpose of the thing was to record a radio show. The actors stood at mikes with head sets on and read the play from scripts. They had to learn not to hold for laughs like we do in the theatre but to ride over the laugh, because their mikes were much louder than the general mike that recorded the laughter. Also, the play is about two women on the verge of a breakdown and in the theatre, it's fun to hear them shriek and scream at each other. On the radio, it could be deafening. The challenge was each time I told the actresses to take the volume down, they naturally lost intensity. The emotional intensity had to come from suppressed rage and phrasing. Very interesting kind of work."

Hopefully, we'll get to hear the results. Click on this post's title for more info and the LATW radio syndication schedule.

THE LADY IN QUESTION IS CHARLES BUSCH named Best Documentary

2007-07-03T20:38:00.000-07:00

FOR REVIEWS, CLICK HERE.

THE LADY IN QUESTION IS CHARLES BUSCH was named Best Documentary at The 2007 International Gay Film Awards, also known as the Glitter Awards. The award, voted on by the gay press as well as foreign and domestic gay and lesbian film festivals, is given for “outstanding achievement of work that narrates true gay life events in an original, controversial manner.”

Produced and directed by John Catania and Charles Ignacio, THE LADY IN QUESTION IS CHARLES BUSCH is an affectionate and entertaining tribute. Dubbed by The Village Voice as a "drag to riches story," it casts the artist’s fascinating life as a triumphant tale of drive and perseverance.

Previous awards for THE LADY IN QUESTION IS CHARLES BUSCH include Best Documentary at the 2006 Austin Gay & Lesbian Film Festival, and the Audience Award for Best Documentary at the Fire Island Film & Video Festival.

THE LADY IN QUESTION IS CHARLES BUSCH had its world premiere at the 4th Annual Tribeca Film Festival in April 2005 and was released theatrically in March 2006. Its North American television premiere was on Sundance Channel where it continues to air through summer 2008. DVD distribution is by Docurama.

To purchase the DVD, click on either photo.

Spalding Gray: Stories Left To Tell

2007-05-23T03:34:00.000-07:00

Charles appeared as a guest actor joining the cast of the Naked Angels production of Spalding Gray: Stories Left To Tell, performing the role of “Career” at the Minetta Lane Theatre from May 23 through June 3, 2007.

He joins an impressive (and eclectic) list of actors including Richard Kind, Fisher Stevens, Estelle Parsons, Josh Lucas, Rachel Dratch, Bruce Vilanch, Valerie Smaldone, Dylan Walsh, David Boreanaz, Christopher Gorham and Michelle Trachtenberg, Elaine Stritch, Anthony Rapp, Lisa Kron, Darnell Williams, and Whoopi Goldberg - who performed in a benefit performance on the late monologist's birthday, June 5.

The birthday celebration continued the following evening, as Charles hosted an event where celebrated authors read excerpts from Gray's monologues.

Kate Mulgrew and Charles Busch Discuss His Recent Historical Play, "Our Leading Lady"

2007-04-13T23:12:00.000-07:00

Kate Mulgrew, former Star Trek icon and recent star of Charles Busch's historical play Our Leading Lady, chats with Busch about 19th century theater mover and shaker, Laura Keene (the actress who had insisted that Lincoln attend her performance the night he was assassinated), as well as Charles' library phobia (had he been beaten up by a gang of librarians?) and his next project:

Interviewer (jokingly): And we can next look forward to your Long Day's Journey into Night, now that you're in a more serious mode of writing...

CB: Yes, yes. My intention is to write a completely humorless play. Devoid of any humor.

KM (laughing): Oh, is there anything in it for me, darling?!

CB: Yes, my dear. Except - the first 3 hours will be in Ancient Yiddish.

To read the transcript, click here.

The New York Times profiled Charles' newly renovated West Village apartment in the Dec. 10, 2006 Real Estate section

2006-12-12T22:03:00.000-08:00

To read the article, click on the title of this post.

To get the tour, narrated by Charles himself, click here.